New Malaysian law bans airport taxi touts – RM50k fine

Long the bane of passengers arriving at Malaysian airports, taxi touts are now banned by the government. A new act, A1766, under the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Act 2025 forbids touting at Malaysian airports.

The offence is subject to a fine not exceeding RM50,000, or a maximum five year jail term, or both. A new section 41.A.(1) inserted into the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 [Act 334], reads, “Any person who, without lawful authority, solicits or touts for the purpose of offering services in connection with accepting for hire or reward the carriage of passengers or plying for hire or reward, whether or not carried out by that person, at any public place or its ancillary areas or in the vicinity of such place, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.”

The act empowers arrest without warrant by police or road transport officer of anyone touting or suspected of touting at the airport, with the person being brought immediately to the nearest police station and subsequently brought before a Magistrate. For the purposes of the act, the areas where touting is prohibited includes all parts of an airport that are freely accessible to members of the public, any road, any terminal, or any place which has been gazetted as a stand for public service vehicles.”
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As can be seen, the amendment to the Act also seeks to punish those who act as “agents” for illegal airport “taxis”. It is hoped this act, in force since July 9, will reduce or eliminate instances of passengers being aggressively approached by such touts at the airport.

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